An Akron man, who had searched for more than a week for his stolen family heirlooms and made a public plea for help, got his cherished items back Thursday.
"It's only sinking in that I have this stuff back," said Kyle Barron. "Just knowing that it's all in one piece and all right here is all that matters to me."
Barron said someone stole his heirlooms, including his dad's ashes, off of his front porch last week. He had them shipped in boxes via the U.S. Postal Service from his late parents' home in Oregon and paid for signature confirmation of delivery. But the postal service admits that a carrier left the packages without someone signing for them. By the time Barron's wife arrived home, the packages were gone.
“It’s been extraordinarily taxing," he added. "My wife and I had some long evenings crying about it.”
Barron said he searched the neighborhood but found nothing. He shared his phone number in a local newspaper in hopes that someone would call with more information.
Fast forward eight days, and Barron's neighbor noticed some snow tracks in the yard across the street where a vacant house sits. He decided to follow them.
"I thought, if those packages are there, I need to know," said John Shepherd, Barron's neighbor. "So I went up there and looked and there they were."
Behind a group of evergreen trees were Barron's two stolen boxes. The flaps were open indicating they had been tampered with. Most of the contents inside were frozen.
But as Barron sifted through them, he realized everything was still inside, even his dad's ashes.
"There he is," said Barron. "Knowing that somebody else doesn't have it or that's it's not in a landfill or dumpster is all I needed after this," he added.
The postal service said it is speaking with the carrier involved, and it regrets the situation.
